Coconut Tarts

Baking is such an important part of Caribbean culture. As a child, walking into our local bakery, I would be met by the smells of freshly baked bread and a display filled with freshly baked sweet bun, pastries, cakes and other goodies.  And, although we have excellent bakeries, it is somewhat of a tradition for families to bake up batches of their favourite treats at the weekends. 

Coconut tarts are made using one of our staple ingredients: the coconut. which is used in a lot of Caribbean cooking and baking. I recently started making coconut tarts, and I'm still wondering why I wasn't making them all this time. I have truly missed out. Coconut tart for me sums up the flavours of the islands. Yum!

Ingredients:

Pastry:

450g plain flour 

115g butter

1/4 tsp salt

250ml cold water (or enough for bringing the dough together)

Coconut Filling:

2 coconuts grated (use fresh coconut, not desiccated)

2 tsp vanilla extract/essence 

1 tsp cinnamon / 1 cinnamon stick 

1 tsp ginger 

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups brown sugar 

1 tbsp butter

Glaze:

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp brown sugar 

1 tsp vanilla

Method:

For the pastry:

In a large bowl, cut the butter into chunks, add the the flour and salt. Using your finger tips, rub the fat into the flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs. You want to do this as quickly as possible to avoid the fat melting. 

Add the water a little at a time, mixing with a metal fork until the dough starts coming together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until smooth, for around 3 to 5 minutes. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 30 mins.

For the glaze:

Combine all of the glaze ingredients, mix well and set aside.

For the filling 

Cut the coconut into small pieces, place in a blender with 1 cup of water and blend. If you need to add more water to aid with the blending process go ahead and add some more. 

In a medium thick base pot, add the coconut, including the liquid. Add the vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. simmer on a medium heat for around 20-30 mins, stirring occasional. Make sure to keep an eye on it, you don't want it to dry out. 

Reduce until most of the liquid has evaporated but not all. Add the butter and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Once done the mixture should be able to hold it shape on a spoon. Set aside to cool.

Once the coconut mixture has cooled you can start assembling the tarts. Start by dividing the dough into 12 equal pieces, you can weigh here if you would like each one to be exact.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to around a 3mm thickness. Cut out a circle using a circular cutter of your choice. I used an ice cream sundae dessert bowl and cut around it with a sharp knife. Lightly wet the edges of the circle with water, using a pastry brush or your finger. Generously fill the centre of the pastry, then fold over one half to form a half moon shape. Crimp the edges and pierce the tops of the tarts with a fork. 

Place the tarts on a large baking tray lined with parchment. Bake at 170°C for 15-20 mins. Brush with the glaze mixture half way through cooking. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.